U.S. to Play for Gold on Saturday

The U.S. National Junior Team will play defending champion Sweden in the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal game on Saturday at 8 a.m. ET (NHL Network) in Ufa, Russia.

The U.S. got two goals apiece from Johnny Gaudreau (Boston College) and captain Jake McCabe (Wisconsin) in defeating Canada, 5-1, in a semifinal game on Thursday. Jim Vesey (Harvard) had the other American goal, while John Gibson (Kitchener/OHL) made 33 saves. Gaudreau now has seven goals and two assists in his last three games.

Team USA, which won gold in 2010 in OT against Canada in Saskatchewan, avenged a 2-1 preliminary-round loss to the Canadians from earlier in this tournament. Sweden edged host Russia, 3-2,  in a shootout in the other semifinal today.

The U.S. record now stands at four wins and two losses, with the other loss coming to Russia in the preliminary round by a 2-1 score. The U.S. has also beaten Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, but has not played Sweden since a 3-2 exhibition win just before the tournament began.

Saturday will be a little bit bigger than that.

USA Routs Slovakia to Stay Alive in WJC

Boston College forward Johnny Gaudreau (pictured) scored two goals to help the United States to a 9-3 victory over Slovakia at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia in its final game of the preliminary round, according to USAHockey.com. The victory prevents the U.S. from heading to the WJC relegation round for the second consecutive year.

Current NCAA players who also scored against Slovakia included Cole Bardreau (Cornell), Jake McCabe (Wisconsin), Mike Reilly (Minnesota)and Jacob Trouba (Michigan). Jimmy Vesey (Harvard) had three assists. Trouba has now tallied a goal in three consecutive contests, including Team USA's only goals in back-to-back 2-1 losses to Russia and Canada.

The Americans defeated Germany, 8-0, to begin the tournament on Dec. 27, and finished with two wins and two losses in the preliminary round. The U.S. will enter the quarterfinal round as the No. 3 seed in Group B, and will face the Czech Republic on Jan. 2 in its next outing. The game will be televised live on the NHL  Network at 4 a.m., and then replayed at 5:30 p.m.

Happy New Year!

U.S. Begins 2013 World Juniors Thursday

 

The 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship gets underway Thursday morning for the U.S. National Junior Team in Ufa, Russia against Germany. The Americans went 1-1 in preliminary play, edging Sweden, 3-2, in overtime on Dec. 20 before getting pasted two days later by Finland, 5-1.

According to USCHO.com, Wisconsin sophomore defenseman Jake McCabe has been named captain of the 2013 U.S. National Junior Team, while alternates will include Cornell sophomore forward Cole Bardreau and Michigan freshman defenseman Jacob Trouba.

The U.S. is looking to improve upon last year's showing in Alberta, when it finished out of the medal running at 1-3-0 overall, and was dropped to the relegation pool, where it finished with a 3-0 mark. 

This year's final U.S World Junior roster features 13 current collegians out of a total of 24 players.

10 NCAA Skaters Selected on 2nd Day of NHL Entry Draft

No less than 10 players who played NCAA Division I college hockey last season were chosen on the second day of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft held Saturday at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

2nd Round
Phillip Di Giuseppe of Michigan (CCHA) went 38th overall to the Carolina Hurricanes
Jake McCabe of Wisconsin (WCHA) went 44th overall to the Buffalo Sabres

3rd Round
Shayne Gostisbehere (pictured) of Union (ECAC) went 78th overall to the Philadelphia Flyers

4th Round
Austin Wuthrich of Notre Dame (CCHA) went 107th overall to the Washington Capitals

5th Round
Joey Laleggia of Denver (WCHA) went 123rd overall to the Edmonton Oilers
Brendan Woods of  Wisconsin (WCHA) went 129th overall to Carolina

6th Round
John McCarron of Cornell (ECAC) went 153rd overall to Edmonton

7th Round
Dmitry Sinitsyn of UMass-Lowell (Hockey East) went 183rd overall to the Dallas Stars
Joakim Ryan of Cornell (ECAC) went 198th overall to the San Jose Sharks
Jaycob Megna of Nebraska-Omaha (WCHA) went 210th overall to the Anaheim Ducks

No college players from the 2011-12 season were chosen in the first round of the draft on Friday.

Wuthrich also holds the distinction of being the final CCHA player to be drafted, as the league will disband following the 2012-13 campaign, with three of its teams (Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State) going to the new Big Ten Conference and the rest to a revamped WCHA.